The Respectability of Torture
St Mary’s University College, Thurs 1st August, 7.30pm
Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, was a whistleblower who was removed from his ambassadorial post by Tony Blair for exposing the Tashkent regime‟s use of rape and systematic torture, including the boiling to death of political opponents. He has also spoken out against Central Asia‟s appalling dictatorships, regimes which are allies of the West, involved in torture and rendition, and was accused of threatening MI6‟s relationship with the CIA. Now a human rights activist, author and broadcaster, he outlines the dynamics of torture and the hypocrisy of incriminated Western governments.
My first public appearance for a while will be in Belfast on 1 August where I shall be giving a talk. Long term readers of this blog will recall that, while my focus is largely on international affairs, the domestic political achievements I most hope to see are a united Ireland and an independent Scotland.
“In an unsworn statement at the hearing, Pte Manning said: “I’m sorry that my actions hurt people. I’m sorry that it hurt the United States.
“I’m apologising for the unexpected results of my actions. The last three years have been a learning experience for me.”
Pte Manning said he did not believe at the time that leaking the information would cause harm”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23700938
If this is a defense strategy as an appeal to the judge for reduction of sentence, it seems to work the other way. I feel I can’t criticize him for doing so, but it hurts the future cases of others who come forward. JMO
What’s nasty about Fred? Must have missed something. Seems a perfectly arguable point of view, so why insults?
Latest from End the Occupation
http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=3651
Habbakuk, you were not paraphrasing, you were flat out lying. I doubt if Komodo has begged anyone here for anything.
Israel captured the area in the 1967 Middle East war and later declared it part of its “eternal, undivided capital”. The international community rejected the annexation as a violation of international law.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israeli-law-will-strip-many-arab-absentees-of-land-8762235.html
This is funny
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=395951110505898&set=a.295927180508292.51718.152920038142341&type=1&theater
Fuck Forgot Question marks ???????????????????????
@ Technicolour
1/. Well, he’s “asked” me about 5 times by the last count; I’d call that begging.
2/. I think you should check the meaning of “paraphrase” before you sound off. The importance of words is…important.
3/. And while on the importance of words, pls refer back to your sentence :
“Israel captured the area in the 1967 Middle East war and later declared it part of its “eternal, undivided capital”.”
So Israel declared the “area” part of Jerusalem? The West Bank, do you mean? No, of course you don’t – you mean East Jerusalem, not the “area”. The importance of words!
@ Mr Franklin (21h36)
““In an unsworn statement at the hearing, Pte Manning said: “I’m sorry that my actions hurt people. I’m sorry that it hurt the United States.
“I’m apologising for the unexpected results of my actions. The last three years have been a learning experience for me.”
Pte Manning said he did not believe at the time that leaking the information would cause harm”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23700938
If this is a defense strategy…etc”
________________
You really are a sanctimonious armchair warrior, aren’t you (bravest thing ever done – smoking weed)?
You want him to martyr himself further for the “cause”?
A “strategy”? – Has it occurred to you that he might have meant what he said?
nope; asking repeatedly is not ‘begging’: check the meaning of the word (suggest you use the OED). in fact, what it means is that you haven’t replied to a straightforward question.
re area: read whole piece (linked) for context
stop being sad?
thanx
Scratch the veneer of the amiable inquisitor, and you find a nasty contemporary of Torquemada.
Hmmmmmm
Now my Android Phone is triggering a “suspicious” alert. Guess I should stop talking about Asteroids.
Torquemada down a dodgy internet link? Don’t think it would have done his blood pressure any good.
Lol Alcanon
Your missing Asteriod is an effin Mission
But how can we know so much about a body, then lose the effin thing, its certainly mysterious, never heard anything quite like it, and its due in soon, most perplexing.
http://comets-asteroids.findthedata.org/l/396679/2007-FT3
No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt0Y39eMvpI
Night!
Brian,
Covering up impacts is probably low priority to SIS. Covering up the paedophile in the royal family – high priority.
Perplexing , yes.
“…and you find a nasty contemporary of Torquemada.”
_______________________
yup, I’m hundreds of years old. Played beach volley with him, in fact.
Have a smoke!
Hoo boy. Language lessons from Basil to the Immigrant. Too funny. Who is teaching whom?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-oH-TELcLE
@ Technicolour (22h02) :
Here I am, walking down the street minding my own business. A chappie stops me and asks for money. He then repeats his request several times.
Now you would probably say that he’s simply reminding me that I haven’t replied to his request. I, on the other hand, would call it begging.
Hope that helps!
“The Roadmap for Fukushima Daiichi and the Sacrifice of Japan’s Clean-up Workers”
http://japanfocus.org/-Paul-Jobin/3967
Three years in solitary confinement – in a tiny cell without so much as a newspaper. If that doesn’t break a young man’s spirit, I don’t know what will.
Bradley Manning has recanted?
Bullshit. He has been tortured by a fascist state.
Mussolini’s definition of fascism was the merger of state and corporate power. Given that one quarter of the Federal budget now goes towards killing and spying, it seems obvious what is happening. Ike’s fears are coming home.
America is well on the road to becoming a fascist state. And that, for someone who loves Woody Allen and Talking Heads and Norman Mailer, is a fucking shame.
“becoming a fascist state”
It just seems that way because it was covert. Now that the cover has been removed it’s as David Byrne said;
“as it ever was..”
Ben,
Came across this collation of many of the fascist things the US government is up to.
It’s from last year, so it’s surely got much worse since then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXg2WsNCrW4&feature=player_embedded
Curious that such a carefully crafted constitution can so easily be torn apart. There’s a wonderful history to be written of this period, and particularly interesting will be, how it was done.
Herbie; Read up on the Federalists and the Alien and Sedition Act. Can humans govern themselves?
AA; A crusty, cranky cantankerous curmudgeon, but a great American.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0
Ben, Good night!
🙂
G’nite AA.
Ok,
Now my Linux system just initiated an emergency crash (my own monitoring routines).
FUCK OFF. I AM NOT A DANGER TO THE UK
Technicolour: “Habbakuk, you were not paraphrasing, you were flat out lying. I doubt if Komodo has begged anyone here for anything.”
Technicolour, go slowly, Habby is his own man and if he terms Komodo’s ‘requests’ as ‘begging’ its dismissive, in a manner of speaking. Beautiful word, dis-missive, if you think of it cause Komodo was actually being ‘demanding’ through his rubber-coated missives, very aggressively so. I don’t care if he thinks he’s The Lizard King, he doesn’t have a divine right to get other people to submit to *his* judgment. Komodo is very representative of the attitude here that one has to keep wearing Free Palestine t-shirts here and bang the Palestinian drums as a way of buying a ticket in order to enter this Murrayista domain. Bull shit. It is a only a self-righteous attitude to pressurise commenters to join their petty tribalism.
Empathy and justice are quite a different thing. And the more subtly expressed the more i trust it as being genuine rather than through hoarse (counter) propaganda. The psychological dividing line is as subtle, or not, as a vessel that is silver-plated and genuine silver. Anyone who wishes to fault Habby for his perspective on this matter had better dig deep for factual references and stop playing this childish game of portraying themselves as being superior compassionate human beings. The most genuine charity is done quietly not like Mary coming here and telling us how she’s giving a few shillings to the Palestinian orchestra. I have followed the thread closely and have observed that Habby is subtle with his portrayal of views, perhaps too subtle for the obsessives.
Bottom-line is that the prevailing attitude here is one of a self-gratificational superiority. Those indulging in it had better examine themselves and look at their false transactional form of compassion, for all that fosters is an ‘us’ and ‘them’ divisiveness. Komodo in particular already has a very aggressive streak which he happily magnifies with his Lizard King image. Rubbish, my Lizard King was Jim Morrison and he was a living angel, but on this planet for only 27 years, not a single one of them wasted unlike those who like here to claim to be long-time members of this Club. What a legacy the young man left.
Why is it, as just one example, i never read here about these same Eminences ever talk about Tibet? My guess is that it is because they have there *pet* conflicts where they want to direct their form of ‘compassion’. They don’t want to or are not interested in ending *all* conflict within humanity. When one enters the infinite field of the human mind they come back with Pavlovian reactions of denigrating a great mind like Krishnamurti who dedicated his whole life to showing humanity that they had taken a wrong turn and each of us is responsible in having created the society we have. You can’t just hang it on ‘Obomber’, ‘Bliar’ and of late ‘Kameron’ and ‘Klegg’ (all elected officials), and so on and so forth. Of course they are self-serving hypocrites but for God’s sake the Eminences here are no less fragmented and no less part of The Game. Even, for the most part, a bunch of losers while the Establishment proves they can continue to win taking advantage of ignorance.
The key lies in Inner Intelligence not the ‘substantive’ spouting self-acclaimed ‘intellects’ here of the Herbies, Flaming Marys, Phils, Neverminds, Sofias, Dougs, Fedups, Mackays, Clarks and Komodos of this observable little card-carrying Murrayista world. Say what they will and however eloquent, convincing and witty (not) they may try to sound, they end up in their frustration, with the possible exceptions of the ex-moderator Clark, accusing others of being trolls. These are not people living in Freedom who can help others attain theirs.
Recommended viewing
The Gatekeepeers.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2309788/
A documentary featuring interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency whose activities and membership are closely held state secrets.
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:F58BC0C37F59D9A8E5A746F31E0B8167D7C5AB6C&dn=The.Gatekeepers.2012.Hebrew.Subs-Eng.655MB.Shin.Bet.MKV&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3a80&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.publicbt.com%3a80&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.istole.it%3a80%2fannounce&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.ccc.de%3a80&tr=udp%3a%2f%2fopen.demonii.com%3a1337
Seems to be a few on here.
Villager; Tribute to the Lizard King and it’s author Manzarek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntAzzSt4WXs
Villager,
“The key lies in Inner Intelligence”
“The psychological dividing line is as subtle, or not, as a vessel that is silver-plated and genuine silver.”
Jeez,what a load of pretentious meaningless guff.How vague and new age can you get,like,maaaann?
Oh wise guru,you’re so tagged-teamed and far up Habbabkuk’s fundamnetal orifice it’s almost romantic,in a fawning servile pathetic and paid-for sense,of course.